News

Ed Sherman

Gil Brandt was in a grocery store the other day when a woman approached him. "She said, 'I follow you on Twitter,'" Brandt said. "Can you believe that?" Actually, those instances happen to Brandt quite frequently. At age 85, Brandt, one of the...
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Viewers will watch FOX NFL Sunday and FOX NFL Kickoff conduct their shows Sunday from Ft. Benning in Georgia. However, they will see only a fraction of what occurs for the crews during their Veterans Day tribute broadcasts from the U.S. Army...
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At the beginning of the A Football Life film on Dwight Clark, producer Peter Frank hesitates in trying to ask him "a tough question." Clark, suffering from ALS, cuts him off. "Listen, there is no awkward question," said Clark in what would be hi...
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When Rich Eisen joined the NFL Network for its launch in Nov., 2003, the notion that he would call a regular-season game from London that airs exclusively on the network had to feel like a pipedream. Yet here Eisen is 15 years later, getting set to...
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Bruce Arians is adjusting to the nuances of being a game analyst for the NFL ON CBS . For instance, the former Arizona Cardinals coach likes to think of himself as "a storyteller." However, there isn't much time to tell stories in a fast-paced NFL...
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At NFL Media's Culver City, CA headquarters, there is a game day operations center staffed by nearly 100 people. The large-scale operation is charged with making sure all of the NFL's digital platforms for airing games are running smoothly. "We wan...
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Joe Buck insists he isn't fazed about calling two NFL games during several weeks this year thanks to his new Thursday Night Football duties. Buck points out that as the one-time baseball announcer for the St. Louis Cardinals, he worked 162 games in...
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Kyle Brandt has a much different background than every other analyst/host who appears on NFL Network. So naturally his main goal in developing his new show is that it had to be different. Really different. "I tell people it's really going to be...
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It isn't just the teams that alter their rosters during the off-season. The networks also make various moves and changes for their NFL coverage. With the season set to kick off Thursday, here are some new looks viewers can expect to see on the...
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The Dallas Cowboys are leaders in one category: They have cornered the market with ex-players becoming lead analysts for the various No. 1 network broadcast teams for the NFL. "I think [Cowboys owner Jerry Jones] is really enjoying this, having his...
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The annual Hard Knocks series has tackled a variety of different storylines through the years, but it never has gone to these depths, so to speak. Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns has all of the essential elements to make for...
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Dan Patrick's mental preparation for Super Bowl Sunday involves reflecting back to an ice fishing trip he did 25 years ago in Minnesota. "It gave me a perspective of what this is like and what this means," said Patrick of the cold. Patrick's chil...
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This is a telling barometer of how long Al Michaels has been involved with the Super Bowl. When Michaels, along with Jim Lampley, handled ABC's pregame, halftime and postgame duties for Super Bowl IX between San Francisco and Miami in 1985, his analy...
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Jim Nantz feels so bullish about his new partnership with Tony Romo, he speaks in lofty terms. "This is a group that really prides itself on establishing a team that will be around for a long time," said Nantz, who emphasizes he includes the entire...
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Jon Gruden's decision to return to coaching immediately creates the biggest off-season NFL media story: Who will fill his large role at ESPN? Gruden's ESPN legacy is considerable. He was on the call for 144 games, ranking seventh all time among...
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Michael Meredith says he never realized the impact losing the Ice Bowl had on his father, Don, the legendary quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, until he did a documentary on the game. "It wasn't like he wouldn't talk about it," Michael said. "But h...
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Cris Collinsworth and his son, Jac, sound so much alike, sometimes it gets confusing. Once after Jac did the introductions for a high school game over the stadium's loudspeaker, people came up to Cris saying, "That was so nice of you. Thanks so much...
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Along with following his hometown Baltimore Colts, NFL Films was a big part of a young Josh Charles getting hooked on football in the late 70s and early 80s. The future actor appreciated the cinematic quality of the production, and the incomparable v...
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There always are plenty of football books available during the holiday season, but one deserves special attention not only for its quality but also for the story of how it got published. Dr. Z: The Lost Memoirs of an Irreverent Football Writer is...
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Scott Hanson has fans everywhere these days thanks to the popularity of NFL RedZone. He even did an interview this week with an outlet in England, where the channel is a hit with many British viewers getting their first tastes of pro football. Howe...
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James Brown wasn't new to hosting a NFL pregame show. He had been the conductor for the popular FOX NFL Sunday ever since the network began broadcasting games in 1994. Yet when Brown moved to CBS in 2006, he felt an acute sense of history in sitti...
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If not for a dense fog during the Atlanta Falcons-New England Patriots game on Oct. 22, viewers would be seeing a conventional telecast of Thursday's Tennessee Titans-Pittsburgh Steelers game. The soupy conditions in Foxborough, though, made NBC's...
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Mike Tirico always has maintained a busy schedule, but even by his standards, his current stretch is a bit over the top. Last week, Tirico was in South Korea to do some work in preparation as NBC's host of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Then on Thursday...
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Rex Ryan went through a range of emotions in the days after being fired as the head coach in Buffalo during the 2016 season. "I think I felt sorry for myself," Ryan said. "It was like, 'I should be coaching. Where's my guys? Where's my team?' I was...
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The current roster of NFL game analysts includes three Hall of Famers, former MVPs, Pro Bowlers, Super Bowl players and a Super Bowl winning coach. And then there is Charles Davis, who never played a down in the NFL. Undrafted as a defensive back a...
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CHICAGO -- On a glorious blue-sky October morning, about 30 members of ESPN's Monday Night Football production team gathered in a windowless conference room in a Chicago hotel. Jay Rothman, the executive producer for MNF, promptly kicked off the meet...
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Steve Smith Sr.'s first year out of football has been a learning experience on many levels. Smith is learning the nuances of working in TV as a NFL Network analyst. The job has made him realize how much he didn't know about NFL's front offices desp...
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Amazon will make its NFL game debut today in what potentially could be a game-changer for how viewers consume football in the future. Amazon Prime Video will stream the Chicago-Green Bay game today as the NFL's official OTT partner for Thursday Nig...
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Michael Vick got a second chance to play again in the NFL. He admits he wasn't sure he would get a first chance in broadcasting. Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009 after spending 18 months in prison for his involvement in a dog fighti...
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Don't ask Chris Berman how it felt to experience the opening weekend of the NFL season as a regular viewer watching games on the sofa. He doesn't know. After stepping down from his 31-year run as ESPN's primary NFL studio host last winter, and 38 y...
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Don Ohlmeyer had a simple philosophy as the ground-breaking producer of ABC's Monday Night Football in the 1970s. "Our approach was (forget about) the football fan; he's going to watch anyway," Ohlmeyer said. "We need to attract other people to ma...
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Jim Nantz was 26 when he made his CBS debut in September, 1985. Only a few years removed from attending the University of Houston, the young prospect had been tabbed to host the network's studio shows for college football. Nantz recalls there was p...
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Beth Mowins admits all the talk about her feels a bit "awkward." "I tell people I'm getting kind of sick of hearing about me," Mowins said. "I'm just ready for the game to start." Mowins, though, understands why the focus is on her, because she i...
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The 30-second chat between Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson was mined from up to 350 hours of footage that is shot per week during the filming of Hard Knocks . While on the practice field, the Tampa Bay receivers were talking about of all things, emoj...
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GLENCOE, Ill. -- Ever the quarterback, Tony Romo quickly assessed the obstacles in front of him. However, Romo wasn't looking at an opposing defense Monday. Instead, he peered out at the sloped, kitchen floor-fast 18th green at Skokie Country Club...
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There never is anything routine about broadcasting the NFL draft. However, there was one constant with the event annually being held at Radio City Music Hall in New York. That all changed when the NFL decided to move the draft to different location...
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Mike Maycock was skeptical. He had a hard time believing many people would tune in when NFL Network did its first live coverage of the NFL Scouting Combine in 2005. His worst fears then were reinforced by his father, a former college offensive line...
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Frankie Morales has been traveling through Europe this month celebrating his 30th birthday. He mingled with the locals in Ireland, toured Amsterdam, and indulged in all the various tastes of Paris. Normally, it would be a trip of a lifetime for Mor...
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Super Bowl LI week hasn't even started yet, and NFL Media is already making preliminary plans for Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. That says quite a bit about the massive operation required to cover the big game. "We have to start thinking about next...
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Jack Buck took his son, Joe, everywhere during his legendary career. By the time he was 12, Joe had visited every National League city traveling with the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals. Joe, though, never accompanied Jack to the one of the record...
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Pittsburgh had just finished off its 30-12 victory over Miami in the opening round of the playoffs, and NFL GameDay Prime wanted Antonio Brown to speak to Deion Sanders on its postgame show. The receiver had a big game with 124 yards and two touchdo...
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Who would have ever guessed that Rod "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" Tidwell would eventually turn down even bigger money and retire because he lost his "Quan?" Or that former No. 1 overall pick, Frank Cushman, would have his career derailed by an acute case of...
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During his 41 years at NFL Films, veteran producer David Plaut says virtually "every permutation" of Vince Lombardi's legend has been told in numerous documentaries -- except one: The coach's final season as a coach with the Washington Redskins in 19...
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Maurice Jones-Drew took pride in his versatility as a player. The former Jacksonville Jaguars running back flashed his considerable running and receiving skills during a career that saw him earn three trips to the Pro Bowl. So it shouldn't be a sur...
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There are people working on analytics in the NFL, but the scope is not as prevalent as it is in baseball. "It still is rather nascent," said Cynthia Frelund, NFL Network's first analytics expert. "Let's put it this way. Nobody's making a movie star...
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Prior to the season, Andrea Kremer approached Michael Mandt, the NFL Network's executive producer for original content, with a proposal. "There's a lot of stuff out there about gun violence," Kremer said. "I feel like we should be doing something....
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Cars and the NFL just go together. They have the common traits of being sleek, flashy, powerful and colorful. Catch me if you can. Now a new series takes a unique spin on the NFL's car connection. Tackle My Ride debuts Tuesday with back-to-back...
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The NFL Network's A Football Life is in its sixth season. The highly-acclaimed series has produced a wide range of films on iconic figures such as Vince Lombardi and interesting characters like Dexter Manley. But it never examined the life of perhap...
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When Fred Gaudelli, the producer of NBC's Sunday Night Football , learned that he and his crew also would be responsible for producing the second-half package of Thursday Night Football on NBC and NFL Network this year, he realized the math didn't a...
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During last year's NFL Draft in Chicago, NFL Now, the league's digital network, featured Maurice Jones-Drew and Ike Taylor interviewing Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller. The setting, though, was different. As they were talking, the current playe...
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When Margaret Ruffing Morris learned NFL Films wanted to do A Football Life on Brett Favre, she was taken aback. It wasn't because Favre didn't deserve his own A Football Life . Of course, he did. Rather, Morris had the feeling of...
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Bill Cowher burst into the locker room. "All right guys, we're getting killed out there," Cowher bellows to the assembled players. His veins look like they are about to explode from his neck. The former Pittsburgh Steelers coach showed he still h...
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With a football in hand, Nate Burleson launched into celebration mode. He waved his arms and did a few dance steps. However, Burleson wasn't in the end zone. Rather, he was in a TV studio wearing a jacket and slacks. Burleson's dance was sparked...
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During last week's live stream of the New York Jets-Buffalo Bills game on Twitter, a tweet from @EricHaycook, a Bills fan, got to the essence of what made it so historic. "My beautiful newborn baby girl watching football an entirely different way t...
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Mike Tirico isn't a stranger to hosting a NFL pregame show. He once had stints on ESPN's lead-in to the Monday night game. "That gave me the opportunity to work with 'Downtown' Julie Brown," Tirico said. "I'm very confident in saying that I am the...
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NFL Films has tackled many powerful and difficult subjects during its long history. But nothing compares to that terrible Tuesday morning in September 2001. A new season of the "The Timeline" series kicks off with "9/11" on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on N...
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Sean McDonough (left) is joining Jon Gruden in the booth for ESPN's "Monday Night Football" broadcasts this season. (Courtesy ESPN) Growing up around the NFL meant Monday nights were special at Sean McDonough's house. His father, Hall of Fame...
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The latest edition of HBO's "Hard Knocks" will include all the familiar storylines that have made the series so popular. The behind-the-scenes access from NFL Films' six manned and 12 robotic cameras will focus on the head coach's private interaction...
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There is no such thing as downtime for the folks who run NFL Network. They have spent considerable work during the summer months cloistered in meetings over preparations for the upcoming season. The exercise is necessary, but it also can seem endless...
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Back in 1967, Ed Sabol and his son, Steve, ventured to Green Bay to document a behind-the-scenes look at what turned out to be Vince Lombardi's last season with the Packers. The end result was NFL Films' "Lombardi." "Ever since then, we've been ask...
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